Box Score (PDF)

THE RUNDOWN
SILVER CITY, N.M. – Whitney Taylor notched her third 20-point game of the season with 21 points while matching a career-high five three-pointers to lead Midwestern State to its first Lone Star Conference win of the season in a 71-46 victory over Western New Mexico Thursday evening at Drag's Court.
 
It was a game of runs in the first quarter with Midwestern State (4-9, 1-6 LSC) taking an 8-2 lead in the first 2:24 of the contest with four points coming from Leanna James. Western New Mexico (4-10, 0-7 LSC) responded with a 7-0 run over the next three minutes before MSU answered back with a 9-0 spurt for a 17-9 advantage with 1:11 remaining. Midwestern went on to claim a 19-13 lead after one.
 
MSU began to pull away in the second period with a Taylor three-pointer giving the Maroon and Gold their first double-digit lead of the night at 29-17 midway through the quarter. Another Taylor triple stretched the MSU lead to 17 late in the period, taking a 40-23 advantage at the break.
 
Midwestern State shot 57.1 percent from the floor in the third quarter, going 4-of-6 from long range with Taylor connecting on three triples and netting 12 points. WNMU pulled within 13 early in the period before MSU extended its lead to 25 at 62-37 in the final minute of the quarter.
 
Both teams struggled from the field in the fourth with WNMU shooting 20 percent and MSU firing at an 11.8 percent clip. A pair of Liz Cathcart free throws with 4:27 remaining gave Midwestern its largest lead of the game at 29 points. MSU was held scoreless the final 4:27 but limited WNMU to just four points en route to a 71-46 victory.

NOTES
- Whitney Taylor recorded the eighth 20-point game of her career with her 21 points Thursday night with seven of those coming on the road
- Taylor tallied a career-best five triples for the fourth time in her career with three of those performances coming in the last four games 
- Avery Queen posted double figures for the second-straight game with 14 points
- Liz Cathcart and Leanna James each added eight points with Cathcart matching a career-high nine rebounds and James recording a team-high six assists, her fourth-straight game with six or more assists
- Jasmine Richardson came off the bench to lead MSU with three steals while adding five assists
- Midwestern State shot 41.3 percent from the floor while holding Western New Mexico to a 27.0 percentage
- MSU held a 51-35 rebounding edge, a season-high in rebounds
- Midwestern led 30-14 in points in the paint and 16-4 in second chance points
- Jordan Gutierrez led WNMU with 20 points, four assists and four steals

STAT OF THE GAME
27.0 – Midwestern State held Western New Mexico to an opponent-low this season with a 27.0 shooting percentage

UP NEXT 
Midwestern State continues its New Mexico road swing Saturday with a 3 p.m. (CST) tipoff against Eastern New Mexico at Greyhound Arena in Portales.